Chapter 127
[Two Woods: Does that count as being heartless after getting the job done?]
[System Message: Two Woods retracted a message]
Lin Yuewei had recently picked up this trick from Gu Yanqiu; whenever she said something suggestive, she’d retract it quickly, ideally only after making sure the other person had already seen it.
Sure enough, Gu Yanqiu sent back a string of ellipses, followed by a cute sticker Lin Yuewei had never seen before. As far as she knew, there was only one person around Gu Yanqiu who sent her such stickers.
[Two Woods: Another sticker stolen from Gu Feiquan?]
[West Gu: Mm]
[Two Woods: Your brother is really something.]
Gu Yanqiu raised an eyebrow and was just about to type back to explain that they were indeed full siblings; if Lin Yuewei didn’t believe it, she could show her a paternity test. Then another line popped up on the screen.
[Two Woods: A breath of fresh air among stepbrothers]
[West Gu: Why?]
[Two Woods: No reason. He just seems a little stupid-cute.]
Gu Yanqiu: “...”
If Gu Feiquan heard that, she had no idea what he’d think.
Lin Yuewei was willing to barely accept that Gu Yanqiu’s stepbrother occasionally “harassed” Gu Yanqiu, but that didn’t mean she was going to let their conversation revolve around Gu Feiquan. So after that remark, she steered things back on track.
[Two Woods: Why did you suddenly want to go home?]
With Gu Yanqiu’s personality, if she was going back to the Gu house she would have given Lin Yuewei a heads-up in advance. This was so sudden; it was obvious she’d made the decision on the spur of the moment.
Gu Yanqiu only said that something had come up.
It wasn’t that she didn’t want to say; the basis for her decision was purely instinct, and she didn’t know where to begin explaining.
Lin Yuewei didn’t press further. She had always had a sense of proportion in matters like this; she wouldn’t dig into everything. If Gu Yanqiu wanted to say, then she would; if she didn’t, Lin Yuewei wouldn’t force it. Everyone had their own secrets.
After that came the usual check-in about whether she’d eaten. Gu Yanqiu said she’d ordered takeout, and Lin Yuewei lectured her on how unhealthy takeout was, and after a while, Lin Yuewei went off to eat. Before she left, she took a photo of herself with Schrödinger.
The fur on Schrödinger’s head had been ruffled straight up, standing on end in all directions; paired with those cold blue eyes, it was the look of an utterly arrogant cat. Lin Yuewei was even more arrogant than the cat. She bit the collar of her pajamas, lifted her chin, and pointed her nostrils at the camera like some big shot out on the town.
Gu Yanqiu: “...”
She really was using her face however she wanted just because she was pretty.
Shaking her head with a smile, Gu Yanqiu saved the picture.
Then Weibo suddenly pushed a notification for a special follow. On Gu Yanqiu’s account, both her regular follow list and special follows had only one person: Lin Yuewei. Gu Yanqiu tapped through the notification and landed on Lin Yuewei’s new post.
Lin Yuewei V:
[A bright and sunny day [photo with Schrödinger]]
This one was completely different from the photo she’d sent Gu Yanqiu. Schrödinger was still Schrödinger, but Lin Yuewei wasn’t quite the same Lin Yuewei. She rested her chin lightly on Schrödinger’s head, her eyes seeming to look at the camera and yet not at it at all, distant and hazy. With sunlight pouring in through the window, she looked as if she were glowing softly all over, like a fairy descended to earth.
Gu Yanqiu clicked her tongue, left a comment, and reposted it.
[Lin Yuewei’s fan.: The cat is pretty; the person is even prettier than the cat]
Then she saved that photo too, and sent Lin Yuewei a message, clearly understanding her habits: [How many shots did you take in this set with Schrödinger? Send them all to me.]
[Two Woods: How did you know? [surprised face]]
[Gu Yanqiu: I may not know anything else about your and my chemistry, but I do know this habit of yours.]
[Two Woods: Oh.]
Sweetly, Lin Yuewei picked out the remaining best shots and sent them over. Gu Yanqiu accepted them all and replied with an audio message: a muah. Lin Yuewei didn’t answer; presumably Ran Qingqing had called her to eat.
When Lin Zhi came in, Gu Yanqiu’s phone screen was still showing Lin Yuewei’s photo.
Lin Zhi set the meal for Gu Yanqiu on the desk and glanced at her phone, looking like he wanted to say something but stopped himself.
Gu Yanqiu: “What is it?”
Lin Zhi looked away and asked, “You still like Lin Yuewei?” They always said three months was the freshness period for a fan; it had been how many months already, and Gu Yanqiu still looked like some die-hard fangirl.
Gu Yanqiu looked puzzled. “Is that not allowed?”
Lin Zhi lowered his head to help her open the takeout bag. His lips moved, and he said, “It’s allowed, but won’t your girlfriend be jealous?”
“She won’t be jealous.” Gu Yanqiu smiled and returned her phone to the home screen. It was still Lin Yuewei. Lin Zhi looked over, and his face practically spelled out, You’re way too bold for your own good. “You even use her as your wallpaper?”
Gu Yanqiu kept smiling. “Is that not allowed?”
Lin Zhi stared at her for a moment, then pushed the opened chopsticks and lunch box over, speaking earnestly. “Little Gu, this really isn’t okay.”
“Thank you,” Gu Yanqiu said. “Why not?”
Lin Zhi said, “Listen to me; women are all very petty. For your phone, either use a landscape photo or her photo. Anyway, you absolutely cannot use another woman’s picture. Especially with someone like you, whose orientation is female; even using a male celebrity would be better than using a female one.”
Gu Yanqiu nodded. “Mm-hmm.”
Lin Zhi went on, “By the way, didn’t you and your girlfriend argue before? Was it because of this?”
Gu Yanqiu picked up a bite of food at an unhurried pace and chewed it slowly before saying, “That time wasn’t because of this.”
Lin Zhi said, “Then you need to prevent problems before they happen. Change your wallpaper quickly.”
Gu Yanqiu still nodded. “That makes sense.”
Lin Zhi said, “Do you like any male celebrities? How about Peng Yuyan? Or Daniel Wu? I can help you find one.” As he spoke, he reached toward Gu Yanqiu’s phone. Gu Yanqiu shot him a cool glance.
Lin Zhi froze with his hand in midair, then hurriedly pulled it back. “Uh, I’m heading out, Little Gu. Call me if you need anything.”
Gu Yanqiu was alone in the office, looking through a phone whose wallpaper and lock screen were both Lin Yuewei. Lin Zhi’s words had reminded her of something; Lin Yuewei needed to keep her identity hidden, and this did seem a little too conspicuous.
After thinking it over, Gu Yanqiu changed both her lock screen and wallpaper to the default system ones.
In the afternoon, when Lin Zhi came in to deliver something and happened to glance at her phone, he immediately showed a gratified expression, the look of someone seeing a student finally come around.
Gu Yanqiu wanted to laugh; with a pen in hand, she wrote Lin Yuewei’s name on a blank sheet of paper.
Her relaxed mood lasted until just before work ended. This time, her sudden trip home was known to no one but herself. She opened the door and found Gu Feiquan, who had gotten home ten minutes earlier, springing up from the sofa in surprise. Then he smiled and came over to greet her. “Why didn’t you tell me you were coming back?”
He Songjun said, “Feiquan!”
Gu Yanqiu said, “Why should I tell you?”
They spoke at the same time. Gu Feiquan sat back down awkwardly. As for his mother, he knew how it was: at first He Songjun would still put on a show of family harmony, but now that she saw how close he and Gu Yanqiu had become, she probably wished she could twist his ears off; how could she still bother with acting?
As for Gu Yanqiu, there was nothing to say. At home, she usually never gave him a good face. But Gu Feiquan found that he was actually starting to enjoy it; the Gu Yanqiu who looked a little fierce was also kind of adorable.
After changing her shoes, Gu Yanqiu came in. “Where’s Dad?”
He Songjun said, “Can’t you find him yourself?”
Gu Feiquan said, “Upstairs in the study.”
He Songjun looked around, picked up the remote, and walked over to Gu Feiquan, slapping his leg with it. Gu Feiquan clutched his leg and let out an exaggerated howl of pain. “Ah, my leg’s broken.”
He Songjun couldn’t decide whether to keep hitting him or not.
Gu Yanqiu went upstairs without even glancing over.
Gu Feiquan had been sneaking glances that way. The moment he saw Gu Yanqiu leave, he dropped the act too, curling his lip in a bored little pout. He Songjun saw that dead look on his face, and her gaze followed; immediately, she raised the remote again and smacked him with it.
For a grown man, those two hits were nothing. Gu Feiquan didn’t even furrow his brow. He took He Songjun’s hand, took the remote from her, and patiently coaxed, “Mom, can you not be this irritable every day?”
“I’m irritable?”
“You are.”
“It’s all because you’re so infuriating. If only you had a little ambition...”
“Am I not ambitious enough? My position is even higher than Gu Yanqiu’s now.”
“That’s not what I mean by ambitious.” He Songjun pinched his arm. “Why can’t you just keep your distance from her?!“
“Wasn’t it you who said to infiltrate the enemy camp?” Gu Feiquan said with a smile.
“Don’t try to fool me. Do I not know you? Ever since you were a kid, you’ve been going against me, never listening to me. After you got to university, you came home only once every few months, wasn’t that just to avoid me? And now this—now that you’ve got a sister, even if she’s the child of a mistress, you go running up to curry favor with her. Do you even care whether she appreciates you or not?”
Gu Feiquan’s eyes slowly turned cold. “Mom, enough.”
He Songjun immediately pointed at his nose. “Look at you, right now exactly like this; am I your biological mother or is she? The moment I say anything about other people, you turn against me.” After throwing her tantrum, she started wiping at her tears. “I raised you with blood, sweat, and tears, through all kinds of hardship. And now look at you; your elbow is turning outward all the time. Do I still count as your mother in your eyes?”
From childhood to adulthood, He Songjun had said this sentence no fewer than ninety thousand times if not one hundred thousand. Even though Gu Feiquan kept telling himself he had to be patient and not lose his temper, when He Songjun once again splashed dirty water on Shen Huaiyu and Gu Yanqiu, he finally couldn’t hold back and stood up. “Mom, I have something to do; I’m going back to my room.”
He Songjun snapped, “You stop right there!”
Gu Feiquan strode off, leaving behind only his resolute back.
He Songjun looked toward the study upstairs; the hatred in her eyes deepened until it was almost tangible.
First her mother had ruined her entire life; now they wanted to ruin her child too. Why wouldn’t that mother and daughter just leave them alone?! Why?!
***
Gu Yanqiu first pressed her ear against the study door and listened for a while before raising her hand to knock.
“Come in.” Gu Huai’s voice was as usual.
Gu Yanqiu pushed the door open and called, “Dad.”
Gu Huai stood behind the desk, a sheet of xuan paper spread out before him, a writing brush in hand as he wrote with focused attention, not looking up. “What is it?”
“Nothing. I just came back to see you.”
Gu Huai pressed the paperweight down a little, his wrist moving the brush; the strokes rose and fell without a tremor, smooth and flowing. “That was thoughtful of you.”
Gu Yanqiu’s gaze moved off his wrist and landed on the paper. He was copying a Su Shi lyric poem, Butterfly Lovers. After he finished the line, “Inside the wall, the swing; outside the wall, the road. Inside the wall, the beauty laughs,” Gu Huai paused, dipped his brush in the inkstone, and said lightly, “It’ll be time to close the net in two months. What are your thoughts?”
“Everything is ready, but I have one question.”
“Hm? What question?” Gu Huai wrote again, lightly drawing a stroke.
“Does Gu Feiquan know?”
“You mean about closing the net?”
“Mm.”
“He does.” Gu Huai said, “He’s been in this house for so long; of course he knows what my relationship with you really is. How could he not see through the act in the company?”
“You trust him?” There was a thick note of doubt in Gu Yanqiu’s voice, as if she truly couldn’t understand.
Gu Huai chuckled softly. It was only then, after Gu Yanqiu had been in the room for so long, that he finally looked up. The wrinkles on his forehead were deep, but he no longer carried the oppressive authority he once did. A teasing curve lifted the corners of his mouth. “My dear daughter, isn’t he following behind you, trying to please you? Don’t you trust him?”
Gu Yanqiu: “...”
Gu Huai said, “That boy isn’t bad at heart; his temperament and character are both fine. He’d make a good deputy for you.”
Gu Yanqiu was still going to probe further when Gu Huai finished the last stroke and said, “Come look at this calligraphy; what do you think?”
Shen Huaiyu liked copying scriptures and had excellent calligraphy. Gu Yanqiu had been influenced a little when she was young and had practiced on her own, so she understood a bit. After taking a look, she honestly evaluated it: “Beginner level.”
Gu Huai wasn’t angry. He laughed. “Thank you for not saying I write like a dog crawling.”
Gu Yanqiu bent over and blew gently across the xuan paper. “Why did you suddenly start practicing calligraphy?”
“To cultivate the self and nurture the spirit; to refine my temperament.” Gu Huai answered. “I don’t have much to do anyway, and I’m almost retired, so I’m just fiddling around at home.”
Her answer made Gu Yanqiu think of Ran Qingqing, who had taken to worshiping Buddha at home, and her expression shifted slightly. Gu Huai caught it and asked, “What are you thinking about?”
Gu Yanqiu shook her head. “Nothing. I just remembered that Lin Yuewei’s mother set up a Buddhist shrine at home and started believing in Buddhism.”
Gu Huai froze. “Is that so?”
Gu Yanqiu said, “Mm. Something happened in the family.”
Gu Huai pulled his drifting thoughts back and said, “I heard about it. The marriage ran into trouble.”
“Yes.”
“Lin Bai is too muddle-headed.” Gu Huai shook his head and muttered in low lament, then suddenly remembered he didn’t seem to have any standing to criticize the other man. Meeting Gu Yanqiu’s faint, unreadable gaze made him unsure where to look, so he simply looked away, lowered his head, picked up the paperweight, and slid the sheet away.
Gu Yanqiu pulled over a chair and sat beside him.
Gu Huai coughed once and covered his mouth with a tissue. “I’ve had a bit of a cold lately.”
Gu Yanqiu said coolly, “I know.”
Gu Huai said, “What do you want to eat tonight? Go downstairs to the kitchen and tell the cook before she finishes.”
Gu Yanqiu said, “Anything.”
She felt that Gu Huai was trying to send her out. But why he wanted her out, she didn’t know. So she just sat quietly in the study. Gu Huai said nothing more, only coughing occasionally; it was just an ordinary cold.
She sat until the housekeeper knocked and called them down to dinner. Gu Huai set down his brush and went out with Gu Yanqiu.
Gu Huai walked in front; Gu Yanqiu followed behind. In the stairwell, they ran into Gu Feiquan coming down from the third floor. She glanced downstairs, then upstairs, and raised an eyebrow as if asking when he had gone up. Gu Feiquan made an exaggerated gesture of nonstop talking. Gu Yanqiu returned an understanding look.
To avoid making He Songjun angry again, after coming downstairs Gu Feiquan deliberately acted as if he had no interaction with Gu Yanqiu at all; that finally got He Songjun out of battle-hen mode and made her much warmer toward him.
Women like his mother, middle-aged and with their entire hearts wrapped around their son, were the easiest to set off and the easiest to appease. Thinking this, Gu Feiquan picked a piece of fish without bones for He Songjun. While He Songjun said, “Eat it yourself; I don’t like fish,” she was smiling brightly as she ate it.
The moment Gu Feiquan glanced at Gu Yanqiu, Gu Yanqiu immediately changed the direction of her chopsticks from the vegetables and took a piece of fish for herself.
Gu Feiquan: “...”
Was she really that afraid he’d serve her food?
Once He Songjun had been coaxed into a good mood by her son, she sunk into her own world and simply treated Gu Yanqiu as invisible, so as not to spoil her appetite. Gu Huai seemed to be eating less than before; after a few bites, he put down his chopsticks and drank half a bowl of soup. Gu Yanqiu and Gu Feiquan exchanged a subtle glance.
“Can you find a way to sneak into the study again? Preferably in the daytime, when Dad isn’t there.” After dinner, Gu Yanqiu and Gu Feiquan met in a guest room on the third floor to talk. Last time, Gu Feiquan had slipped into the study and found Shen Huaiyu’s belongings.
“What do you want to do?” Gu Feiquan asked in a low voice.
“Find something.”
“What kind of thing?”
“Something unusual.” Gu Yanqiu’s intuition told her it was in the study, and she looked him straight in the eye. “Aren’t you good at finding things?”
“...” Since Gu Yanqiu had said it that way, then Gu Feiquan had to be able to do it, and had to.
He raised one hand and high-fived her.
The study.
Having just finished dinner, Gu Huai braced himself against the desk with one hand and pressed the other to his chest. After taking several deep breaths, he held it in and forcefully suppressed the urge to vomit. The moment he swallowed back what had surged up into his throat, a fit of coughing broke out that he couldn’t stop.
He covered his mouth with a handkerchief. A metallic taste rose from deep in his throat; his chest trembled violently, and every cough seemed to drag along all his organs, as if it would sweep everything clean.
He sat down, then took two medicine bottles from his pocket, shook out a few pills with trembling fingers, and swallowed them with water, tilting his head back. The shaking in his chest was still continuing. Gu Huai coughed darkly and, in the end, bent over the trash can in front of him and vomited out bitter sour water; tears came from how hard he had been coughing.
“Cough... cough cough...”
Gu Huai rested one arm on the desk and buried his face in it, biting tightly into the fabric of his sleeve with his teeth. Pain brought out tears at the corners of his eyes.
***
“Really can’t you come back and stay here?” With Gu Yanqiu not around, Lin Yuewei carried Schrödinger out of its room and set it on her bed. Now Schrödinger was raising hell on her lap, and Lin Yuewei could hardly keep hold of it.
Gu Yanqiu lowered her phone camera a little, letting Lin Yuewei see the pajamas she was wearing. “No; I’m already getting ready to sleep.”
“It’s almost New Year, and you still can’t keep me company for two days.”
“I still have one more day of work tomorrow.”
“Can I come to your company tomorrow?” Lin Yuewei finally managed to grab Schrödinger back and hold both its hind paws in her hands, but then Schrödinger raised its front paws and unleashed a crisp Nine Yin White Bone Claw attack. Lin Yuewei had no choice but to give way; Schrödinger escaped again.
Lin Yuewei said, “Why is it so well-behaved in front of you, but in front of me it looks like it wants to tear the roof off?”
“If you want to come, then come,” Gu Yanqiu said. “If you don’t mind causing a crowd, especially around my secretary.” She flipped a page in the book she was holding, only to find the text unfamiliar, then flipped it back and said with a smile, “Didn’t I tell you that overindulgence spoils the child? You keep spoiling it, so how could it not get carried away?”
“I’m not spoiling it.” As she spoke, Lin Yuewei’s head was stepped on by the cat again, vividly illustrating what it meant to get carried away.
Lin Yuewei: “...”
“Then Auntie is the one spoiling it,” Gu Yanqiu said with a laugh. She leaned closer to the phone and looked. “Didn’t you notice Schrödinger has gotten fat? This cat has no self-awareness at all. The moment you relax even a little, it gets round again in no time. After the New Year, I’ll bring it to lose weight.”
“Will you bring me to lose weight too?”
“Are you a cat?”
“No, but I think I’ve gotten fat too.” Lin Yuewei pinched the flesh at her waist, feeling it wasn’t as taut as before. She’d only lain at home for two days and already had such a strong sense of crisis.
Gu Yanqiu looked at her, frowned, and said, “You’re not fat. I’ve touched you; it’s just right.”
Lin Yuewei: “...” She let out a heavy sigh.
Gu Yanqiu looked puzzled. “What’s wrong?”
Lin Yuewei said, “Next time you say something like that, can you give me a little warning first?”
Gu Yanqiu: “What kind of thing?”
“The kind of thing where...” Lin Yuewei said, “Forget it. Say whatever you want.”
Gu Yanqiu: “Huh?”
Lin Yuewei waved her hand. “Don’t mention this anymore; let’s just pretend this topic never came up.” She actually quite enjoyed these little surprises that popped out now and then.
Gu Yanqiu looked like she wanted to get to the bottom of it, but Lin Yuewei shifted the topic to something serious. “Tomorrow morning I’m going to the temple with my mom; that pretty famous XX Temple. My mom looked it up online and said it’s really efficacious.”
“XX Temple?” Gu Yanqiu’s attention was indeed drawn to this matter.
“Yeah. She said she wants to go burn incense, pray that next year will go smoothly, and also ask for a protective amulet or something for the two of us; then she’ll have a master consecrate it.” Lin Yuewei snorted. “What century are we in, and she still believes in that stuff? Those consecrated trinkets are just used to cheat people out of money.”
Gu Yanqiu slowly knitted her brows and gave a soft “Mm,” wearing a look of mild disagreement.
Lin Yuewei said in surprise, “Seriously? You believe that too?”
Gu Yanqiu said, “Better to believe it exists than not. Maybe Auntie is just buying peace of mind with money; don’t talk about her like that.”
Sitting cross-legged, Lin Yuewei said, “Do you think I’m stupid? Of course I wouldn’t say that in front of her. In front of her I’ll say, okay okay, great great, tomorrow I’ll go with you, and the master’s powers are profound; he’ll definitely bless our whole family with peace, health, and smooth sailing.”
Gu Yanqiu was amused by how quick her tongue was. “So good.”
Lin Yuewei curled her lip and went on, “Since you believe in it too, then I’ll take back that thing about cheating people out of money. Better to believe it exists than not; tomorrow I’ll bow to Buddha a few more times and ask it to bless you.”
“And bless you and Auntie too.” Gu Yanqiu smiled. Just as she was about to continue, noise outside drew her attention; it sounded like several people were talking loudly at once.
Gu Yanqiu frowned in confusion, set the phone down, and said, “It’s a bit noisy. I’m going out to take a look.”
Lin Yuewei said, “Okay.”
She hadn’t even reached the door when heavy banging sounded on it. Gu Yanqiu strode over and pulled it open; Gu Feiquan’s anxious face appeared before her. A bad feeling surged in Gu Yanqiu’s chest. She opened her mouth, but Gu Feiquan had already blurted it out.
“Dad fainted in the study.”